Schools around the state participated in Kick Butts Day, a national effort to prevent kids from getting hooked on tobacco products.

"When they go home, you know they share this with their parents as well. So when they share it with their friends, it is getting out there in our community. They choose not to, and then their peers," said India LaPierre, director of the Biddeford Teen Center.

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Teens in Biddeford talked about the deadly consequences of smoking Wednesday. They also made T-shirts with anti-smoking messages.

"I figure that if they don't start in the first place, then there will be no chance of them actually smoking," said Cheyenne Webber, a ninth-grader at Biddeford High School.

It’s been 50 years since the U.S. surgeon general issued the first warning about the hazards of tobacco products.

A little more than 15 percent of Maine’s high school students smoke, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.